At my first CAA board meeting, the tone of the meeting was very businesslike. As a young person, new to the organization, I felt disconnected as board members conducted their discussions. At one point, Micki, the chair, who was sitting at the head of the conference table, reached under the table and pulled out a tiara. She proceeded to pop the tiara on her head and said something to the effect of “let’s keep this all in perspective.” It was that one little gesture that made all the difference. I never forgot the power of that action. (Gen Xer Stephanie Fox tells this story from the start of her relationship with Micki Kuhs, Traditionalist, on a Cornell University alumni board.)

Phyllis Weiss Haserot, president of Practice Development Counsel, helps organizations and individuals solve inter-generational challenges among work colleagues and with clients to achieve better productivity and knowledge transfer, retention, succession planning and business development results. Connect with her through email, twitter, or LinkedIn

GENERATIONS AGE BREAKDOWN

Generations are defined by similar formative influences—social, cultural, political, economic—that existed as individuals of particular age cohorts were growing up. Given that premise, age breakdowns for each of the five generations currently in the workplace are roughly: